June Lockhart, the golden-age film actress and star of TV shows “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” has died, according to a family statement. She was 100.
Lockhart died of natural causes on Thursday, Oct. 23, surrounded by family at her Santa Monica, Calif. home.
“Mommy always considered acting as her craft, her vocation, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA,” daughter June Elizabeth said in a statement to TheWrap. “She cherished playing her role in ‘Lost in Space’ and she was delighted to know that she inspired many future astronauts, as they would remind her on visits to NASA. That meant even more to her than the hundreds of television and movies roles she played.”
Lockhart played Ruth Martin, Timmy’s foster mother, on the long-running CBS series “Lassie,” after taking over the role from Cloris Leachman in 1958. She later played Dr. Maureen Robinson on the network’s “Lost in Space” from 1965 to 1968.
Before she became “America’s mom” on TV, Lockhart’s films included “She-Wolf of London,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
Lockhart was a prolific actress on television for decades, with roles on “General Hostpital,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Petticoat Junction,” and dozens of guest appearances on popular shows like “Happy Days,” “Full House” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Her feature debut came in 1939, when she starred in “A Christmas Carol” alongside her parents Gene and Kathleen Lockhart,” playing Belinda Cratchit as a young teen. That led to more roles in both film and TV, including several classic Western shows like “Gunsmoke,” “Wagon Train” and “Rawhide.”
Her father, Gene Lockhart, was an Oscar-nominated character actor with more than 300 film credits, and was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s. He met Kathleen under historic circumstances:
“Thomas Edison in the early 1920s hired and introduced two young actors to one another, Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Arthur,” family spokesperson and longtime family friend Lyle Gregory said. “They performed sketches written by Edison to promote his latest invention, the phonograph, for eager audiences across the emerging modern North American landscape. Those two young actors fell in love, married, had one child and named her June.”
June Lockhart wasn’t just an animal defender on TV – she was a tireless defender of animal rights, supporting the Santa Monica Mounted Police Horses and later became the spokesperson for International Hearing Dog Inc.
For her “Lassie” role, Lockhart was nominated for a Best Actress in a Leading Role Emmy Award, and won a Newcomer Special Tony in 1948 for her role in “For Love or Money.”
Lockhart is survived by her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna.
